More headlines from 2003

BARBARA DIAMOND

Editor’s note: This is the second part of Barbara Diamond’s look back

at 2003, culled from the pages of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot.

June 13: Los Angeles officials announced support for a commercial

airport at the abandoned U.S. Marine airbase in El Toro. Councilwoman

Cheryl Kinsman said rumors had been circulating and earlier in the

month it was learned that Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn has asked

the federal government for permission for L.A. to manage an airport

at El Toro.

June 20: Councilman Wayne Baglin sought public support in his time

of trial. Baglin, charged with six counts of felony conflict of

interest violations, encouraged members of the public to attend the

trial, set for June 27.

Robert “Skip” Hellewell was named the new Bishop of the Laguna

Beach ward of the Church of Latter-day Saints.

The council re-appointed incumbents Pat Kollenda, Nancy Beverage

and Dora Wexall and newcomers Mary Pratt Ferguson and Terry Smith to

the Arts Commission, a snub of incumbent Joan Corman, which

distressed admirers of the artist who specialized in children’s art

programs for the commission. Incumbent Norm Grossman was re-appointed

to the Planning Commission. Linda Dietrich was appointed to fill the

other open seat on the commission.

Evran Ozan, 10, released his second album of music featuring the

Native American flute.

June 27: Laguna Beach said aloha on June 17 to Francis Quentin

Cabang, a resident since 1947 best known as the owner of the Royal

Hawaiian restaurant in North Laguna.

Former Laguna News Post publisher John Weld died June 14. After

Weld and his wife, Katie, sold the paper to Vern Spitaleri, Weld

began writing books, one of which was “Laguna, I Love You,” a

compilation of his “Our Town” columns in the paper, which always

ended with “Laguna, I Love You.” John, we loved you.

July 4: The City Council voted to remove the fountain in front of

Fire Department Station No. 1. It had been selected by a previous

council to fulfill the art in public places requirement for the

renovation of City Hall and was always a bone of contention.

July 11: A jury found Councilman Wayne Baglin not guilty of

violating a state law when he accepted a commission on a property

purchased by the city.

A rift opened between Festival of Arts artists and board

leadership when news leaked that board-appointed executive director

Steve Brezzo was talking to a management company about licensing the

Pageant of the Masters. The rift only widened as the year progressed,

with President Bruce Rasner the fulcrum of the discontent.

July 18: Laguna Beach resident Richard Allen La Bianco, 33,

pleaded guilty July 14 to felony charges of mail fraud and money

laundering.

The death of 53-year-old, Aliso Viejo resident Jerry Greene in

“relatively calm” waters off of Main Beach was under investigation.

“It will be a rare story if it turns out to be drowning said Mark

Klosterman, chief of the city’s Marine Safety Department. “It would

be the first drowning on a guarded beach [in Laguna] since the early

‘70s.” Usually, Klosterman said, it usually turns out to be a heart

attack. Klosterman was right.

July 25: South Laguna’s Bill Bryan, 30, captured his 10th world

title at the Victoria Pro/Am Skimboard Contest at Aliso Beach.

Brandon Sears, 19, came in second.

Aug. 1: Heavenly pyrotechnics lighted the skies July 26 in the

kind of summer storm the city had not experienced since 1996.

Aug. 8: Parenting Magazine subscribers voted Laguna’s beaches

among the best in the country for children. Travel Network filmed the

city’s beaches for a program on America’s Best Beaches. No surprise

to us.

Laguna Beach Police Assn. President Sgt. Guy Miller asked the City

Council to intervene in contract negotiations.

Aug. 15: Emerald Bay resident Peter Ueberroth threw his hat into

an overcrowded ring when he announced that he was a candidate to

replace Gov. Gray Davis if Californians voted for a recall.

Laguna Beach resident John Powell, 45, was indicted by a grand

jury on charges of lying to a federal agency and obstructing its

proceedings. Powell allegedly violated federal securities laws with a

fraudulent oil-well investment offering. He was scheduled to be

arraigned Aug. 25.

Aug. 22: South Coast Medical Center officials sent shock waves

through the city when they announced that retrofitting the buildings

to meet state earthquake standards was too expensive to be practical

if the hospital just ended up with the same facilities. Moving, the

officials claimed, seemed to be a better solution for the hospital.

“It might be better for the hospital, but it wouldn’t be better for

Laguna Beach,” said long-time resident Doris Shields.

Aug 29: Festival of Arts board members Kathleen Blackburn, John

Campbell and Bob Dietrich came to the defense of board President

Bruce Rasner, at whom most of the criticism against board policies

had been aimed. “Sometimes his manner’s a little rough around the

edges, but nobody cares as much about the festival and the pageant as

he does,” said Blackburn.

Laguna Art Museum announced the formation of the Laguna Beach Film

Society. “11’09’01” kicked off the inaugural season.

Sept. 5: Festival of Arts executive director Steve Brezzo

announced his resignation. Brezzo’s hiring 10 months earlier had

raised the hackles of a board minority, some festival members and

residents because they saw no need to create the position and pay a

$175,000 salary plus perks.

Smithcliffs ribbon park and viewpoint was dedicated Sept. 1.

At the insistence of Councilman Steve Dicterow, the City Council

gave seniors preference as tenants in the affordable housing on

Glenneyre Street, a switch never contemplated by supporters or the

builder of the project. “That was not the original intention of the

Affordable Housing and Human Affairs Committee,” said the Rev. Colin

Henderson.

Formation of a second film society, called cinema, was announced.

The new group, sponsored by [seven-degrees], an event venue, Ami

Garavi and City Arts Coordinator Sian Poeschl, also planned on a

Sept. 11 debut.

Sept. 12: Peter Ueberroth pulled out of the gubernatorial race to

replace Gray Davis. He said he didn’t have the time to run the kind

of campaign he wanted.

Sept. 19: Laguna Beach physician Robert Burns was among the

medical professionals who had recently returned from a humanitarian

effort to provide medical to indigenous population of the Amazon rain

forest. His wife, Ruth Ann Burns, was the coordinator of the team of

seven who performed miracles in unthinkable conditions. Laguna Beach

photographer Don Leach spent 10 days with the team, capturing their

work on film.

Council members Elizabeth Pearson and Steve Dicterow refused to

reconsider their votes to give preference to seniors at the

affordable housing project under construction on Glenneyre Street.

Mayor Toni Iseman requested the reconsideration in recognition of the

intent of the Affordable Housing and Human Affairs Committee and the

late Alice Graves, who chaired it.

Sept. 26: The City Council approved the proposed Driftwood

development in South Laguna 4-1, Mayor Toni Iseman opposed. Neighbors

opposed it and vowed to take it to the California Coastal Commission.

Oct. 3: Laguna Beach resident Lita Miller, 67, died Sept. 30 when

she was pinned between her car door and a concrete wall in the garage

of her condominium. “This was a freak accident,” said police Sgt.

Jason Kravetz. “I’ve been here 14 years and I’ve never seen anything

like it. It was a sad, tragic accident.” Miller apparently tried to

exit her vehicle while it was still moving. An autopsy was ordered to

determine the specific cause of death.

Oct. 10: “Making Our Voices Heard” was the message at the Oct. 3

Laguna Beach Woman’s Club’s forum. The messengers were businesswoman

Megan Doherty, attorney Jane Egly, Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson,

biologist and Laguna Greenbelt Inc. President Elisabeth Brown and

League of Women Voters-Laguna Unit co-chair Linda Brown.

Oct. 17: Heal the Bay’s summer report gave A-pluses to 14 of

Laguna’s 16 beaches. Workers at three Laguna Beach supermarkets began

picketing Oct. 18.

Oct. 24: Laguna Beach remembered heroes and relived the memorable

moments -- good ones of courageous and compassionate acts helping to

ease the bad ones -- of Oct. 27, 1993. Hardly a soul in town was

untouched by the fire -- and the memories remain strong.

Oct. 31: South Coast Medical Center officials said the hospital

probably will be leaving the city, but wants to leave no hard feeling

behind. “We want them to stay and we will do whatever it takes to

make that happen,” said Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman.

Nov. 7: The City Council reversed itself on two key votes. Seniors

were dropped as the top preferred tenants at the affordable housing

project on Glenneyre Street, on the advice of legal counsel. The

council also voted to reduce the $750 limit on individual campaign

donations it had approved at the Oct. 4 meeting, due to lack of

support. The council agreed on a limit of $310, the original $250

plus $60 to reflect an increase in the consumer price index.

Former Laguna Beach High School water polo coach Rick Scott, 39,

was accused of having sex with a team member. The girl was 17 at the

time.

Nov. 14: Three outspoken opponents of licensing the Festival of

Arts to other communities swept into office, each receiving more than

70% of the members’ votes. Incumbent Bruce Rasner was distant fourth

with 293 votes, well behind the 1,115 votes for incumbent David

Young, and the 984 votes for Anita Mangels and Carolyn Reynolds. A

total of 1,377 ballots were cast.

Nov. 21: The City Council gave staff until March to come up with

some money-saving options for the city’s transit system. “We appear

to be terminally ill and on financial life support,” said Councilman

Wayne Baglin at the Nov. 4 meeting. “We have to figure out a way to

make the system self-sustaining.” The system is the only municipal

bus service in Orange County.

Laguna Beach resident Russell Wayne Bridge, 35, died in a fiery

one-car collision on the Corona del Mar Freeway. A California Highway

Patrol spokeswoman said Bridge lost control of his 2003 Chevrolet

Silverado pickup truck, veered off the highway and crashed into a

steel guard rail.

Dec. 5: Gilbert Garcia, 32, was convicted of killing

Baskin-Robbins owner Simindokht Roshdieh Feb. 20, 1995 during a

botched robbery, and wounding her husband, Firooz. Cheryl Kinsman

moved over a seat and was handed the mayor’s gavel at the Dec. 2

meeting. Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson, with just one year on the

council, took over the timer, with which the vice mayor keeps track

of the minutes used by speakers at the rostrum.

Dec. 12: El Hathaway was chosen to be the new president of the

Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education

Dec. 19: The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 16 upheld

the county Planning Commission approval of city plans to relocate the

corporation yard to the ACT V parcel in Laguna Canyon.

That same night, the City Council voted to refinance Treasure

Island Park by borrowing money from city funds and projects to pay

off $8.1 million debt.

The city’s dreary mid-year budget review looked a little brighter

after news from Sacramento that plans were afoot to restore the

revenue the cities and counties rely on to fund emergency services.